2.1.1—Brief Summary: Minerals are essential elements for the growth of all organisms. Dietary minerals can be derived from many source materials, including plants. E.g., plant seeds are a rich source of minerals since they contain ions that are completed with the phosphate groups of phytic acid molecules. These phytate-associated minerals satisfy the dietary needs of some species of farmed organisms, such as multi-stomached ruminants. Accordingly, ruminants do not require dietary supplementation with inorganic phosphate and minerals because microorganisms in the rumen produce enzymes that catalyze conversion of phytate (myo-inositol-hexaphosphate) to inositol and inorganic phosphate. In the process, minerals that have been complexed with phytate are released. The majority of species of farmed organisms, however, are unable to efficiently utilize phytate-associated minerals. Thus, for example, in the livestock production of monogastric animals (e.g., pigs, birds, and fish), feed is commonly supplemented with minerals &/or with antibiotic substances that alter the digestive flora environment of the consuming organism to enhance growth rates.
As such, there are many problematic burdens—related to nutrition, ex vivo processing steps, health and medicine, environmental conservation, and resource management—that are associated with an insufficient hydrolysis of phytate in many applications. The following are non-limiting examples of these problems:                1) The supplementation of diets with inorganic minerals is a costly expense.        2) The presence of unhydrolyzed phytate is undesirable and problematic in many ex vivo applications (e.g. by causing the presence of unwanted sludge).        3) The supplementation of diets with antibiotics poses a medical threat to humans and animals alike by increasing the abundance of antibiotic-tolerant pathogens.        4) The discharge of unabsorbed fecal minerals into the environment disrupts and damages the ecosystems of surrounding soils, fish farm waters, and surface waters at large.        5) The valuable nutritional offerings of many potential foodstuffs remain significantly untapped and squandered.        
2.1.2—Nutritional Concerns: Many potentially nutritious plants, including particularly their seeds, contain appreciable amounts of nutrients, e.g. phosphate, that are associated with phytate in a manner such that these nutrients are not freely available upon consumption. The unavailability of these nutrients is overcome by some organisms, including cows and other ruminants, that have a sufficient digestive ability—largely derived from the presence of symbiotic life forms in their digestive tracts—to hydrolyze phytate and liberate the associated nutrients. However, the majority of species of farmed animals, including pigs, fish, chickens, turkeys, as well as other non-ruminant organisms including man, are unable to efficiently liberate these nutrients after ingestion.
Consequently, phytate-containing foodstuffs require supplementation with exogenous nutrients and/or with a source of phytase activity in order to ammend their deficient nutritional offerings upon consumption by a very large number of species of organisms.
2.1.3—Ex vivo Processing Concerns: In yet another aspect, the presence of unhydrolized phytate leads to problematic consequences in ex vivo processes including—but not limited to—the processing of foodstuffs. In but merely one exemplification, as described in EP0321004-B1 (Vaara et al.), there is a step in the processing of corn and sorghum kernels whereby the hard kernels are steeped in water to soften them. Water-soluble subtances that leach out during this process become part of a corn steep liquor, which is concentrated by evaporation. Unhydrolized phytic acid in the corn steep liquor, largely in the form of calcium and magnesium salts, is associated with phosphorus and deposits an undesirable sludge with proteins and metal ions. This sludge is problematic in the evaporation, transportation and storage of the corn steep liquor. Accordingly, the instantly disclosed phytase molecules—either alone or in combination with other reagents (including but not limited to enzymes, including proteases)—are serviceable not only in this application (e.g., for prevention of the unwanted slugde) but also in other applications where phytate hydrolysis is desirable.
2.1.4—Medical Concerns: The supplementation of diets with antibiotic substances has many beneficial results in livestock production. For example, in addition to its role as a prophylactic means to ward off disease, the administration of exogenous antibiotics has been shown to increase growth rates by upwards of 3-5%. The mechanism of this action may also involve—in part—an alteration in the digestive flora environment of farmed animals, resulting in a microfloral balance that is more optimal for nutrient absorption.
However, a significant negative effect associated with the overuse of antibiotics is the danger of creating a repository of pathogenic antibiotic-resistant microbial strains. This danger is imminent, and the rise of drug-resistant pathogens in humans has already been linked to the use of antibiotics in livestock. For example, Avoparcin, the antibiotic used in animal feeds, was banned in many places in 1997, and animals are now being given another antibiotic, virginiamycin, which is very similar to the new drug, Synercid, used to replace vancomycin in human beings. However, studies have already shown that some enterococci in farm animals are resistant to Synercid. Consequently, undesired tolerance consequences, such as those already seen with Avoparcin and vancomycin, are likely to reoccur no matter what new antibiotics are used as blanket prophylactics for farmed animals. Accordingly, researchers are calling for tighter controls on drug use in the industry.
The increases in growth rates achieved in animals raised on foodstuffs supplemented with the instantly disclosed phytase molecules matches—if not exceeds—those achieved using antibiotics such as, for example, Avoparcin. Accordingly, the instantly disclosed phytase molecules—either alone or in combination with other reagents (including but not limited to enzymes, including proteases)—are serviceable not only in this application (e.g., for increasing the growth rate of farmed animals) but also in other applications where phytate hydrolysis is desirable.
2.1.5—Environmental Concerns: An environmental consequence is that the consumption of phytate-containing foodstuffs by any organism species that is phytase-deficient—regardless of whether the foodstuffs are supplemented with minerals—leads to fecal pollution resulting from the excretion of unabsorbed minerals. This pollution has a negative impact not only on the immediate habitat but consequently also on the surrounding waters. The environmental alterations occur primarily at the bottom of the food chain, and therefore have the potential to permeate upwards and throughout an ecosystem to effect permanent and catastrophic damage—particularly after years of continual pollution. This problem has the potential to manifest itself in any area where concentrated phytate processing occurs—including in vivo (e.g. by animals in areas of livestock production, zoological grounds, wildlife refuges, etc.) and in vitro (e.g. in commercial corn wet milling, ceral steeping processes, etc.) processing steps.
2.1.6—Financial Concerns: The decision to use exogenously added phytase molecules—whether to fully replace or to augment the use of exogenously administered minerals &/or antibiotics—ultimately needs to pass a test of financial feasibility & cost effectiveness by the user whose livelihood depends on the relevant application, such as livestock production.
Consequently, there is a need for means to achieve efficient and cost effective hydrolysis of phytate in various applications. Particularly, there is a need for means to optimize the hyrolysis of phytate in commercial applications. In a particular aspect, there is a need to optimize commercial treatment methods that improve the nutritional offerings of phytate-containing foodstuffs for consumption by humans and farmed animals.
Previous reports of recombinant phytases are available, but their inferior activities are eclipsed by the newly discovered phytase molecules of instant invention. Accordingly, the instantly disclosed phytase molecules are counted upon to provide substantially superior commercial performance than previously identified phytase molecules, e.g. phytase molecules of fungal origin.